When I'm worried and I can't sleep . . .

I count my blessings instead of sheep


And I fall asleep


Counting my blessings

When my bankroll is getting small


I think of when I had none at all

And I fall asleep


Counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads


And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds

If you're worried and you can't sleep


Just count your blessings instead of sheep


And you'll fall asleep


Counting your blessings.

What made me think of this? Well, remember I said my friend Rosemary would be appearing in this post. Literally. I sent these photos via e-mail to my college class and said I couldn't remember where they were taken.

One of my classmates suggested they were taken at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park when we went for a weekend seminar on Utopias. Could have fooled me. Anyway, I am on the right and that's Rosemary on the left. Of all the people I know, she is the most likely to be counting her blessings, but what struck me was the comment she made, "I can remember that coat." I can remember mine too. I got it at the only place we bought coats—a dutch company with a name including a lot of initials. They had a big store on Oxford Street. So what is my point? When I can't fall asleep, or when I wake up in the middle of the night, I try to list all the shoes I have ever had, all the sweaters, all the jackets etc. During the period of my life in England, Austerity Britain, the list was very short, but at the same time the objects were carefully chosen. Just how many colors did Marks and Spencers have the sweater in? My three years in Los Angeles were supported by a Teaching Assistantship and a small stipend. My first years in Detroit were a whirl of small children and panic set in when there was a University function, "I don't have anything to wear!" My working years required more clothes, but at the same time I was working to help support children who needed their own clothes and to pay university tuition.

And now I am not very interested in what I wear. Soon I will start on woolly sheep.